Drought in Muhlenberg County, KY: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

Muhlenberg County, KY: 3 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 4
2. 11
3. 6
4. 0
5. 0
6. 3
7. 4
8. 20
9. 5
10. 0
11. 16
12. 9
13. 18
14. 0
15. 3
16. 6
17. 8
18. 0
19. 0
20. 4
21. 0
22. 0
23. 10
24. 0
25. 5
26. 5

20002025

Drought years: 2007 (20 wk), 2010 (16 wk) and 2012 (18 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2023.

A regular lawn is fine here; plan for the odd dry year

Real droughts are rare here. A smart controller that skips watering after rain covers the odd dry year.

You can keep a regular lawn. Worth doing: a rain-sensing or smart controller, and deeper, less frequent watering if Sep turns dry.

Against the rest of KY

57th most drought-prone of 120 KY counties; the KY middle is 1.2 in 10. Closest on the list: Simpson County (1.2 in 10) and Allen County (1.2 in 10). Driest in KY: Calloway County (2.3 in 10). Least drought: Grant County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Sep (22% of weeks), then Oct (20%) and Nov (17%). Least in Mar (2%). May to September averages 12%.

1. 10 Jan
2. 6 Feb
3. 2 Mar
4. 7 Apr
5. 8 May
6. 9 Jun
7. 11 Jul
8. 13 Aug
9. 22 Sep
10. 20 Oct
11. 17 Nov
12. 8 Dec

The worst year: 2007

2007: 20 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 10.9% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 5.1% at D2, 1.3% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 24 weeks, Sep 21, 2010 to Mar 1, 2011.

Lately

Last drought year: 2012, 18 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 16 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Muhlenberg County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2007, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Muhlenberg County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.